This place takes poor to another level'

Every 30 seconds a woman in Africa loses her child to malaria. In Tanzania alone, 100,000 die of the disease. To mark Malaria Awareness Week, Zoe Ash spoke to a local doctor who has launched a charity to help the children of the poverty-stricken country

Six years ago the local GP founded The Tumaini Fund, a Guernsey-based charity, in the poverty-stricken country.

The aim was to help Aids orphans and widows in Kagera, a region in north-west Tanzania.

Tumaini is Swahili for hope and that is what it is bringing to this far-flung corner of the world.

This year to date, £100,000 has been sent there, transforming the lives of the worst off communities.

The country is one of the 10 poorest in the world. The average life expectancy is just 43 and an estimated 28% of the population are thought to be carrying the HIV virus.

'These Aids widows and orphans are the poorest section of a community in one of the poorest countries,' said Sue.

But malaria is still the number-one killer there and one of the charity's main objectives is to get a mosquito net to every child to reduce his or her risk of catching the disease.

It was after Sue and husband Douglas, who have both been GPs in the island for the past 22 years, worked at a regional Tanzanian hospital in 2001 that the fund was established.

They spent three months at the Murgwanza Mission Hospital, which is considered one of the best in the country, and last year treated 600,000 patients. They have one doctor.

On this most recent trip, she travelled there with two other volunteers, Denise Mabire, a former Children Board member, and Dr Judith Pring, formerly Steel, a GP at Cobo surgery.

It takes four days to get to the charity's head office in Marguanza.

After a flight to Nairobi, there is then a further one to Rwanda, a three-hour drive to the border and another hour across Tanzania.

'Our head office is more like a coal shed,' said Sue.

The charity is hoping to raise £25,000 to build a new office but there are many more pressing things on its list of priorities.

It has five permanent staff, three social workers, a driver and an administrator. There are a further 12 parish workers who volunteer in the area and work in pairs, each team covering three or four villages.

Any child with only one parent is classed as an orphan as the grim reality is that the remaining parent is most likely already dying of Aids.

It also helps child-headed families such as in the case where a 13-year-old boy was left to care for his eight younger siblings after both his parents died.

It is currently supporting 5,000 orphans. Then there are the widows it looks after too. Every penny raised goes to Tanzania.

'For children who have no one left to check on them at night, tuck them in or listen to their worries, it's a wonderful thing as they go to bed knowing that someone, somewhere, is saying a prayer for them and that they are special,' said Sue.

When children are first taken on by the programme, they are given two sets of new clothes, two school uniforms, pens and books and a mosquito net. This costs the charity £10.

On her most recent trip, Denise distributed 2,000 mosquito nets. Each has at least two people under it, saving thousands from the threat of malaria.

A Tanzanian farmer earns an average £55 a year and this has to support a family of up to eight.

'This place takes poor to another level,' said Sue.

Through a child-sponsorship scheme run by the charity, a youngster receives £1 a week for food, clothing and education.

'It really does transform their lives.'

At the beginning, they are restricted to just 50p.

'One pound a week was too much money: they didn't know what to do with it. It was as if they had won the lottery.'

One pound is the equivalent of 2,000 Tanzanian shillings.

That will buy a school uniform or a new pair of shoes.

'We buy material and have them made. That way we are giving someone work as well and the uniforms last for years and are then handed down,' said Denise.

Two thousand of the children in the programme are at primary school. Although it is free to attend, in order to enrol, the children must be equipped with a uniform, books and pencils - things which many families simply cannot afford.

Secondary schools are all fee-paying, but if a child passes his or her 11-plus with a score of 80% or more, he or she is entitled to a place in a government secondary school.

That costs between £30 and £50 per child - almost a year's wage for a regional farmer.

The charity is currently funding 550 pupils to attend secondary school.

Another project which Tumaini has completed is the drilling of 16 new boreholes, ensuring clean water for thousands of families.

In 2005, the Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission donated funds to buy and maintain a four-wheel drive and the charity also has a motorbike to get between villages.

'If you saw the roads, you would wonder how the car is still going,' said Denise.

Road accidents are the main cause of injury to aid workers in the region.

There is also the constant fear of being ambushed. The roads around the area in which the Guernsey volunteers concentrate their work can be particularly dangerous.

'Before this Christmas there were a few people shot and killed by bandits. They were displaced during the genocide in Rwanda.For two or three hours on the drive north there is no habitation and they live in the bush, ready to ambush people.'

Denise said the charity's workers always travelled with a local man who carries a machine gun.

Tanzania's economic woes can be traced to the 1970s when it went to the aid of its neighbour, Uganda, during the genocide there.

It ploughed what little money it had into the armed forces and the result was bankruptcy.

They won the war but were left destitute.

In 2005 Tanzania was one of the countries whose national debt was cancelled and although there have been improvements since then, there is still a long way to go.

'Even Rwanda is so much better off than where we go. They are a cause celebre because the world feels guilty about what happened there,' said Sue.

'That's good but they are lucky now because they have lovely new roads and schools but in Tanzania there is still nothing.'

There are no tarmac roads within the country. That makes getting to the area more costly and has put people off helping further afield.

Later this year the charity hopes to send a container to the area. It will be filled with medical equipment, bikes, sewing machines, school equipment and clothes, as new or home-made.

But with poor roads and a long journey, it will cost it an additional £2,000.

'I always cry when I leave. It is very difficult to say goodbye,' said Denise.

There are an estimated 200,000 Aids orphans in the area and Sue and the volunteers would like to support them all.

The initial target is 50,000 and for that they would need to raise £2m. a year.

'We are lucky here. We are the 10% of people who live like kings. We have running water and flushing toilets.'

Her unflinching faith helps her believe that anything is possible.

'The work is inspired by Jesus. I am 100% convinced that He is willing this work forward and has enabled all that has been achieved so far.

'We are relying on Him for the miracle of a small Guernsey charity being able to support 200,000 children, which will need a turnover of almost £1m. each month. Without Him, this would be a daunting prospect, but He makes it seem doable,' she said.